HomeMy WebLinkAbout10-19-1981 MinutesMINUTES
PASCO CITY COUNCIL
REGULAR MEETING
OCTOBER 19, 1981
CALL TO ORDER
Meeting called to order at 8 00 P M by E A Snider, Mayor
ROLL CALL
By City Clerk Councilman present were S K Adams, Gary Bosch, Beverly
Green, Charles Grigg, Ira Schmidt and E A Snider Also present were
Lee Kraft, City Manager, Greg Rubstello, City Attorney, Diane Dolan, Finance
Director, James Ajax, City Engineer, Webster Jackson, Administrative Assistant
and Max Bigby, Assistant Planner
CONSENT AGENDA
Mr Schmidt moved that Consent Agenda be approved Seconded by Mrs Green
Motion carried by roll call vote of six (6) Consent items are as follows
a) Approval of Minutes Approve minutes of special meetings, held
October 7th and 12, 1981, respectively
b) Bills To approve General Claims in the amount of $195,502 27, claim
warrant nos 28771 through 28907
VISITORS
PROCLAMATION - BUSINESS & PROFESSIONAL WOMENS' WEEK On behalf of the City
of Pasco, Mayor Snider read and presented Proclamation to Mrs Charlotte Bates,
President of the Business & Professional Womens' Club, honoring them for
their achievement and service to the City of Pasco
REPORTS FROM COMMITTEES AND/OR OFFICERS
Due to decline in revenue as opposed to exceptionally good weather, Mr
Grigg asked the Parks & Recreation Director to submit a short report on
his views why the Golf Revenue is down
PUBLIC HEARINGS
MAYOR SNIDER DECLARED THE PUBLIC HEARING OPEN ON UTILITY TAX ORDINANCE
WHICH HAD BEEN RESCHEDULED TO THIS DATE
The City Manager reported that the Ordinance had been modified to reflect
conditions acceptable by all utilities as follows
1) Section 5 has been eliminated in its entirety The Telephone
Company, the local P U D , and Cascade Natural Gas all in-
dicated that if Section 5 were to remain in the Ordinance, that
an additional 7% surcharge would be passed on to their customers
in 1982
2) The language contained in Section 4(a) which excluded from the
gross operating revenues of any telephone business charges which
are passed on to the subscribers of the telephone company pursuant
to tariffs required by regulatory order to compensate for the cost
to the company the tax imposed by this Ordinance, has been removed
from that section and inserted in Section 1, Paragraph 1 This
change enables the exception to apply equally to all utilities
This change thus provides consistency to the Ordinance
3) Section 4(c) was revised to include the proviso that there shall
not be any tax levied for the installation charges of gas service
units This revision was requested by Cascade Natural Gas in view
of the proviso in Section 4, Paragraph B with regards to electrical
utility This revision also provides additional consistency to
the Ordinance
4 )
A new Section 14 was included to make clear that the provisions
of this Ordinance amend, by substitution, the existing utility
tax provisions of the Pasco Municipal Code as of January 1, 1982
Page Two
MINUTES
PASCO CITY COUNCIL
REGULAR MEETING OCTOBER 19, 1981
PUBLIC HEARING - Continued
Mr Bosch asked how much money we would generate if we increased the
utility tax Staff replied that it would be approximately $75,000 to $100,000
Mr Grigg wanted reassurance that if the increase was granted, that it would
be used for street overlays only, otherwise, he would be opposed to such in-
crease
The City Manager reported that he had been informed by the City Engineer that
it would take approximately $250,000 per year to do an adequate job of keeping
the streets up, and if this tax generated up to $100,000 per year, we would still
be falling behind in our committment to the people who paid to have their
streets improved
Mr Schmidt expressed concern if our Revenue Sharing Funds were dropped,
how would we fund the extra policemen hired The City Manager concurred this
would pose a serious problem
Mr Bob McFarland asked, "what does this 1% represent today?" He, again,
reiterated his previous opposition on the basis that collectively, all utilities
were increasing and costs were getting prohibitive Further, when will this
tax or fund be cancelled?
Mr Harry Moore, 2203 N 7th, stated he was told that when he L I D 'd his
streets, they would then be taken care of by City Street Fund, and if the
City had not created such a fund, then the responsibility was ours Staff
replied that the City has never had the funds to improve streets but it is
our desire to try and maintain them, if possible
Mr Grigg felt the City had an obligation to the citizens of Pasco to protect
their investment and this was one means of doing so
Mr Howard McGee supported proposed increase because he "didn't want to go
back to where we used to be "
Following three (3) calls from Mayor Snider for further comments from the floor,
either for or against, the Public Hearing was declared closed
ORDINANCE NO 2300
AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTER 5 32 OF THE PASCO MUNICIPAL CODE,
WHICH PROVIDES FOR A UTILITIES LICENSE AND OCCUPATION TAX, THE
COLLECTION OF SUCH TAX, AND DEFINES OFFENSES AND PRESCRIBES
PENALTIES BY SUBSTITUTION OF ALL SECTIONS OF THE SAME WITH THE
PROVISIONS OF THIS ORDINANCE WHICH PROVIDES FOR THE INCREASE OF
THE OCCUPATION TAX, AND IN ADDITION TO THE PROVISIONS OF SAID
CHAPTER 5 32, PROVIDES FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A RESERVE FUND
FOR OVERLAYING OR SEALING ASPHALTIC CONCRETE STREET, FOR FUNDING
OF THE RESERVE FUND, AND FURTHER PROVIDING FOR THE PROPER ADMINIS-
TRATION OF THE PROVISIONS HEREOF
Ordinance No 2300 was read by title only Mr. Grigg moved to adopt Ordinance
No. 2300, as amended, providing for the increase of utility tax rates Seconded
by Mr Bosch
Mr Grigg moved to amend Ordinance No 2300 by establishing a time limit of
ten (10) years Motion died for lack of a second
Mr Grigg moved to formerly amend Ordinance No 2300 by the incorporation
of item nos 1 - 4, as recommended by the City Attorney Seconded by Mr
Bosch Motion carried by roll call vote of five (5) Mr Schmidt voting no
Mr Bosch felt that past councils didn't exercise foresight in a street
maintenance program, however, he was opposed to putting a time limit on program
and tying hands
Mr Adams countered that time limits have their advantages sometime as taxes
never get reduced, but he had real concerns for low income people living in Pasco
Page Three
MINUTES
PASCO CITY COUNCIL
REGULAR MEETING
OCTOBER 19, 1981
ORDINANCE NO 2300 - Continued
Mr Adams moved to amend Ordinance No 2300 by setting a time limit of
December 31, 1982, at which time it could be reviewed and determination
made at that time Seconded by Mr Schmidt
Mr Grigg voiced his opposition to 1-year time limit as it had no planning
ability
Mr Bosch asked if we could leverage in 10-years Staff replied 10-years
was more reasonable
Amendment FAILED by roll call vote of four (4) Councilmen Adams and Green
voting yes
Mr Grigg again moved to amend Ordinance No 2300, setting time limit as
December 31, 1991 Seconded by Mr Schmidt Motion FAILED by roll call vote
of five (5) Mr Grigg voting yes
MAIN MOTION, AS AMENDED, CARRIED BY ROLL CALL VOTE OF SIX (6)
RECESS 9 10 P M RECONVENED 9 20 P M
MAYOR SNIDER DECLARED THE RESCHEDULED PUBLIC HEARING OPEN ON PROPOSED 1982
UTILITY RATE ADJUSTMENTS AND ESTABLISHMENT OF NEW UTILITY FEES
Mr Ajax, City Engineer/Director of Public Works, stated that in 1980, staff
did a utility rate study which was presented to the City Council, recommending
rate increases for 1981 and subsequently enacted It also provided for future
increases and certain other modifications to the present Code As a result of
public hearings, a committee was formed and a large part of their time was spent
investigating revenue possibilities Essentially, their recommendations are
as follows
1) Raise bi-monthly water and sewer rates 16%, except large volume
commercial sewer users who would have a 60% increase The revenue
from this increase will be approximately $225,000
2) Establish a system fee (capital cost recovery or plant fee) to all
new connections (surcharged 50% outside City)
3) Establish bi-monthly advance minimum billing to all utility customers
4) Update turn-on and new customer fees to better reflect actual cost
Mr Bosch felt this didn't solve the utility problem entirely He suggested
eliminating the park fee and adding this to the utility
Mr Schmidt asked, "how many brown lawns do you think we will see?" Mr Ajax
didn't feel it would be significant due to increase
Mr Adams opposed the two-month advance billing because it appeared we were
telling people who had paid bills for years that their credit was no good
Further, he could see the advanced billing on new accounts, but not on old,
established customers
Mayor Snider reiterated that it would reduce amount of bad debts to the City
by advancing the billing
Mr Schmidt asked if the change would affect minimum billing for fixed incomes?
Staff replied no
Mr Ed Frost asked if the City had an allowance for bad debts and "what was
wrong with deposits?" Staff replied that with the new computer, we had a much
better disciplining of accounts, therefore, bad debt write-offs had decreased
The City had phased out deposits because of a Court decision requiring that you
pay interest on money held
Page Four
MINUTES
PASCO CITY COUNCIL
REGULAR MEETING OCTOBER 19, 1981
PUBLIC HEARING - Continued
Mr Earl Warren called attention to memo from James Ajax in January, 1981,
asking for rate increase and another memo in October, 1981, asking for rate
increase He reminded officials that "you of this generation don't know
what it's like to do with less, but you'll learn "
Mr Harry Moore stated that he had surveyed vacancies in the Pasco area, and
right now, it is running 40% in the studio and 1-bedroom units Family units
are only experiencing approximately 5% factor With this in mind, he asked,
"how much are we talking about on 2-month advance billing cycle " Staff replied
it would amount to approximately $120,000 Mr Moore-then encouraged the council
to reconsider this action and come up with some other type of plan
Following three (3) calls from Mayor Snider for further comments from the floor,
either for or against, the public hearing was declared closed
ORDINANCE NO 2307
AN ORDINANCE RELATING TO THE CITY WATER AND SEWER RATES, FEES AND
CHARGES BY AMENDING SECTION 13 20 020, 13 20 030, 13 20 050,
13 40 020, 13 20 040, and 13 16 090 OF THE PASCO MUNICIPAL CODE
AND BY ENACTING SECTIONS 13 16 035, 13 22 010, 13 42.010, 13 42 020
AND 13 42 030 TO THE PASCO MUNICIPAL CODE
Ordinance No 2307 was read by title only Mr Schmidt moved to adopt
Ordinance No 2307, increasing the City water and sewer rates, fees and
charges Seconded by Mr Grigg Motion carried by roll call vote of four
(4) Councilmen Bosch and Adams voting no
MAYOR SNIDER DECLARED THE PUBLIC HEARING OPEN TO CONTINUE PUBLIC HEARING
ON VACATION OF THAT PORTION OF SOUTH STREET, LYING BETWEEN SOUTH FOURTH
AVENUE AND SOUTH FIFTH AVENUE
Mr Grigg moved to continue the hearing until November 16th to provide
sufficient time for affected property owners to execute a common easement
agreement Seconded by Mr Schmidt Motion carried by roll call vote
of six (6)
ORDINANCES/RESOLUTIONS
ORDINANCE NO 2308
AN ORDINANCE VACATING CERTAIN UTILITY EASEMENTS RETAINED WHEN
RIGHTS OF WAY WERE VACATED AND ABANDONING CERTAIN SEWER LINES
IN BLOCK 101, NORTHERN PACIFIC PLAT OF THE TOWN OF PASCO
Ordinance No 2308 was read by title only Mr Grigg moved to adopt Ordinance
No 2308, abandoning a portion of existing public sewer and portion of existing
' utility easements in Block 101, Northern Pacific Plat of the Town of Pasco
Seconded by Mr Schmidt Motion carried by roll call vote of six (6)
NEW BUSINESS
APPOINTMENTS TO GOLF COURSE ADVISORY COMMITTEE Mayor Snider made the
following appointments to Golf Course Advisory Committee, and asked the Council's
concurrence
TERM RUNNING TO
Janet Vance Position No 1 August 1, 1982
Landon McMurdo Position No 2 August 1, 1984
K W Conrad Position No 3 August 1, 1982
H W Parkinson Position No 4 August 1, 1983
Dave Henton Position No 5 August 1, 1983
Arthur Burke Position No 6 August 1, 1984
Roy Strode Position No 7 August 1, 1984
Mr Grigg moved to concur with Mayor's appointments Seconded by Mrs Green
Motion carried
Meeting adjourned at 10 05 P M
ATT
Eve yn Wells, City Clerk
PASSED and APPROVED this_A__day 1981
Page Five
MINUTES
PASCO CITY COUNCIL
REGULAR MEETING
OCTOBER 19, 1981
NEW BUSINESS - Continued
APPOINTMENTS - BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT Mayor Snider re-appointed Sharon Lawson
to a five-year term which will expire on November 19, 1986
Mayor Snider appointed Phillip Hill, filling the unexpired term of Lane
Merryman, which is November 19, 1982
Mr Schmidt moved to concur with Mayor Snider's appointments Seconded
by Mr Grigg Motion carried
FINAL PLAT - DESERT SANDS (81-41-PP) Councilman Gary Bosch excused due to
conflict of interest
Mr. Grigg moved to approve the final plat of Desert Sands and authorize the
Mayor to sign final plat Seconded by Mr Schmidt Motion carried by roll
call vote of five (5)
FINAL PLAT - AUTO PARK TWO (81-47-PP) Mr Grigg moved to approve the final
plat of Auto Park Two and authorize the Mayor to sign said final plat Seconded
by Mr Adams Motion carried by roll call vote of six (6)
ADJOURNMENT